“Please don’t stop,” she begged.
He was breathing hard against her neck as he slammed into her again and again. The man was pushing her higher than she had ever known. With the last thrust, she reached the pinnacle of pleasure, her body bursting into white stars behind her closed eyes as she melted into the mattress. She screamed his name. He felt her tighten and convulse around his cock and knew she had found her release. He was holding on for his life to make sure he pleasured her so that with one more push, he found his own release in her. She felt his body tense. He moaned her name and dropped his full weight onto her. She continued to caress his back as he came back down from the highest point of his life. Once would not be enough with Emma. Forever would not be enough with Emma. What was he going to do? He quickly got up and disposed of the condom. He returned to the bed. He scooted her up so her head was resting against his sweaty chest.
“That was amazing, Emma,” he said as he ran his fingers lazily up and down her arm and that was the last thing he remembered.
∞
He awoke rested and in awe of the woman in his arms. He gently kissed her forehead, and she opened her sleepy eyes. Their eyes met and his light golden eyes expressed his gratitude for her. She smiled up at him and kissed his lips. He wrapped his hand in her hair and brought her mouth closer to his. He deepened the kiss.
Before long, she pulled back and said, “I need to get a shower.”
“I’ll join you. I need one too,” he bantered smiling down at her.
She removed her leg from his and got up, feeling vulnerable. Starting to cover herself up again, she remembered how he called her beautiful and looked at him. It was as though he could read her mind.
“You are honestly beautiful, Emma. I could look at you all day long,” he smiled as she walked to her duffle bag to get her toiletries. “And that ass. The things I want to do with that fine, luscious ass of yours,” he growled in a rough voice.
Maybe she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. The truth was, she wanted anything he had to give her.
He laid in bed and thought about how lucky he was to have found such an amazingly smart, beautiful, courageous woman. She was willing to use herself as bait to catch a terrorist. What other woman had ever trusted in Michael so completely that she would be willing to put her life in his hands? He would value her gift to him as long as he lived. He was going to enjoy Emma with every breath he took. He didn’t know how he was going to convince her but she was it for him. He told her she was his but, for a moment he worried maybe she didn’t take him seriously because they were lost in each other.
Michael felt what it was like to be inside her warm, wet body and knew he had to do it again. He waited until he heard the shower running before getting out of bed. He pushed open the bathroom door and steam billowed out into the small hallway of the hotel room. He pulled back the curtain and stepped into the shower. She was lathering up her hair so he took full advantage of her exposed breasts. He bent over and suckled her taut nipple into his mouth gently nipping and tugging at it. His hands roamed the expanse of her body, down her arms, over her stomach, over her ass, cupping and squeezing as he went. He moved to her other breast paying it the same respect. He ran his hand up between her legs and cupped her sex pressing his finger in slow circles against her clit. When she finished rinsing her hair, she splayed her fingers over his broad shoulder muscles. She bent forward and licked the droplets of water from his chest. She bit his erect nipples and swirled her tongue around them. Michael rumbled his satisfaction. She licked her way down onto her knees, the water running in rivulets down Michael’s body. She grabbed his hard, velvety cock in her hands, and he locked eyes with her. She watched him watch her as she slowly brought his cock to her lips. She teased him by licking the velvety tip with her tongue and running his head over her wet lips. She flicked the sensitive underside of his head with her tongue. He watched her as his cock disappeared into her mouth. She pulled long and hard with her mouth using her hand to follow it up. She opened her throat taking him deep inside. He had to control himself and think of anything but what Emma was doing to him or he would come in her mouth. It felt breathtaking when she opened her throat and suckled him. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she continued sucking and pulsing his cock with her mouth and hand.
“Fuck. Emma, Baby, you have to stop. I am going to come in your mouth, and I want you with me when I come,” he told her as he tugged her up.
With one step, he pushed her up against the shower wall, hot water falling down around them. “Wrap your legs around my waist,” he commanded as he lifted her into the air. He brought her down and impaled her with his cock. To his surprise, she was ready for him. He slid the entire way inside her going as deep as possible. She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist digging her heals into is ass urging him to go deeper. He moved himself in and out of her at a quick pace. He thrust into her again and again. She was meeting his thrusts with an angle of her own. She moved her arms around his neck and held on as he pushed her to the brink.
“Fuck,” she screamed. He smiled. It did something to him to hear dirty words come out of her beautiful pouty mouth. It took all of his willpower to keep from coming.
“Talk dirty to me,” he demanded.
At his words, she went into her head again. She didn’t know what to say. She had never spoken naughty words before, let alone to a man. “You make me feel good,” she said as she felt her face heat.
“Say something a little more dirty to me, Emma. Tell me how I feel inside you,” Michael cajoled.
This time her body was kicking in. How did he feel inside her? How could she answer that question and give him what he wanted? “Your penis feels very good inside of my vagina,” she said with the same amount of trepidation and the same heating of her face.
His rhythm was increasing. He was pulling her out of her head and back into her body. “Tell me. Use dirty words, Emma. It does something to me to hear dirty words come out of that perfect, pouty mouth of yours,” Michael demanded as he pumped with more force than before.
She knew what he wanted, she just had to say it. She mustered up the courage and told him how she really felt, “Your cock feels exceptional inside my pussy.” The bands on her soul finally released as the naughty words left her mouth.
Hearing the nasty words come from her mouth while they were having sex was more than he could take. “Come with me,” he commanded as he drove into her harder and faster.
“I’m there,” she yelled as she shattered into a million tiny pieces pulsating around his cock. He drove into her one last time and his body went rigid with his orgasm.
“Fuck, Emma,” he growled as he found his own release. He kept her pinned against the wall afraid his own legs would give out as he came back down from his high.
He lowered her legs to the floor keeping his hands on her waist to make sure she could stand. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her passionately. He conveyed all the emotion he was feeling for her in that one kiss. She must have felt it too, because she was kissing him back as good as she got. He swallowed her moan thinking about how he could never let her go. Since he met her, he could sleep, three nights now with no nightmares. A life without her was not possible for him. She soothed his soul.
“Emma,” he said her name like a prayer, “I need you to know that I will never, ever let anything happen to you again. I fucked up with Ingrams, but I swear on my life from this point forward, you do not need to worry. They will have to kill me before getting to you,” he continued as he cupped her face in his hands.
She locked onto his eyes feeling the sincerity of his words in her heart. “I believe you,” she said, staring up at him with her sad blue eyes.
She knew he would protect her, but what about after she was out of danger? She got the feeling he lived for danger—he was an adrenaline junkie. What about after her life went back to normal, would he still call her his?
« Chapter Twelve »
He stood outs
ide of the shower naked, waiting on her with a towel. She stepped outside and he took his time drying her off. “You must be starved,” he said as he dried her feet.
“I could definitely eat,” she responded with a smile as she shook off the melancholy from a few moments earlier.
She thought she should be concentrating on staying alive and free, not whether Michael would want her after she was safe. She needed to be safe in order for them to even have a chance.
They dressed in easy silence. She was beginning to feel less and less vulnerable around Michael. “I’m beginning to feel,” she thought. Why didn’t she notice that before? Feelings were always fleeting for her and she never focused on how she felt, instead focusing on what she thought. Feelings were always a mystery to her. When she heard others talk about their feelings, she never could quite understand what they meant, but she was beginning to get the picture now. Michael was causing her to feel all sorts of ways: afraid, vulnerable, cherished, happy. He was bringing her out of her head. She couldn’t believe it took having a man in her life before she could get in touch with this part of herself.
“Ready to eat,” Michael asked walking to the door.
She followed behind him, her eyes smiling. Michael smiled back as they made their way down the hallway and into the lobby. Steve, Rob, and Tony were already waiting on them.
“How late are we?” Michael asked his brothers.
“We just got here ourselves,” Tony replied with a knowing grin.
It was at times like this he most thought about the brother they had lost in battle, Leroy. He recalled Rob placing a plastic MRE bag over Leroy’s exposed intestine and then wrapping it with tape from his first-aid kit.
“It’ll be alright. You’re going to be fine,” Michael lied to Leroy wishing to see anything but death in his eyes.
Leroy had coughed up blood and it dribbled down his chin as he tried to ask Michael to deliver his goodbye letter to his wife Kristen. They all carried letters to be delivered to their loved ones should they die on the field, and it was a brother’s responsibility to ensure the letter reached the designee.
Michael remembered the look of devastation in Kristen’s eyes as he walked up to her door. She had already been told about her husband’s death, but she had known the hardest part, hearing his last words to her, had yet to come. She had reached out her hand and took the dirty envelope from Michael.
“Stay with me,” she’d pleaded as she pushed the door open for Michael to enter her home.
When Michael stepped inside, she’s motioned for him to sit on the couch. To his surprise, she’d sat next to him, needing the human contact. She’d opened the letter and started to read it, sobbing, tears streaming down her face.
Handing the letter to Michael, she’d pleaded, “Read it to me.”
Michael couldn’t deny his brother’s wife’s request. He’d read the letter but couldn’t keep the tears from filling his own eyes. After he’d finished reading Leroy’s last words to Kristen, they’d sat holding each other. Kristen had lost the love of her life, and Michael had lost one of his best friends, his brother.
“There’s a diner across the street. Is that okay with everyone,” Tony asked looking at Emma for a response. He knew the guys would eat anything. After those MREs they had eaten for days and days on end.
“Anything works for me,” Emma replied not picky about where they ate, just as long as they did so soon.
“All right then, let’s hit the road,” Tony said turning to the door and bringing Michael out of his head.
They followed Tony across the street and into the diner. Five minutes later they were seated with fresh cups of coffee.
Tony spoke first, “Emma, we have a damn good plan. It will work. Your safety is our number one priority.” She looked at Michael and plastered a smile onto her face. Michael noticed her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Emma was afraid but she wouldn’t show these men her fear. She would be brave, and tough, and trust in them to protect her.
It made Tony’s heart feel good that his brother had found a woman who could take away his pain, even if for a moment. Michael was really quite changed from the serious, straight shooting man he knew in combat. Michael was smiling more now than he’d smiled in the six years he’d known him. It was almost like he could breathe again and that made Tony damn protective of the woman who brought about such a change in his brother. Tony would never admit it to anyone, but he saw the same signs of stress in Michael he had seen in himself. Tony knew if anything were to happen to Emma, Michael would lose the hard fought control he had been clinging to after combat. Combat did that to a man. It changed the fundamental nature of who he was. Tony knew Michael fought for control every day after leaving the military. He knew because he himself was fighting the same battle. No, Tony wouldn’t let anything happen to Michael’s Emma, and it was the deep love he felt for his brother which caused him to feel so deeply for this woman he did not know.
“What can I get you to eat?” the waitress said, grinning at Tony.
They ordered their food and when it came, they all ate in silence. Emma couldn’t finish her large breakfast of eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and sausage, but the guys had no trouble finishing theirs.
“Glad to see you have an appetite, Emma,” Steve said shoveling the last bite into his mouth.
“I can always eat,” Emma replied smiling at Steve. It was strange, but she didn’t feel self-conscious in front of these men. She could get used to the feeling of comfort she felt around these men.
They finished with their coffee. “I got this,” Tony said. He picked up the check, reached into his wallet, and pulled out his Visa/debit card. He handed it to the waitress. She came back with the receipt and a pen for him to sign. She made sure to give Tony a smile and wink before leaving the table. They all stood and put on their coats. Then, they made their way back to the hotel.
“Grab your gear and meet in our room in fifteen minutes,” Michael said to his brothers as he led Emma, with a hand on the small of her back, to the elevator.
Once inside the room, Michael pulled Emma closer to him and kissed her long and hard on the lips. She moaned into his mouth parting her lips to allow his tongue room to taste her. He couldn’t let himself think this might be the last time he would kiss her. He poured his soul into the kiss, deepening it. He tangled his hand into her hair and pulled her closer to him, her breasts molding to his hard chest. Her fingers traced the V of his back as her heart beat feverishly against her chest. They embraced each other until there was a knock at the door. He regretfully pulled away from her warm, soft flesh. She was breathing hard, and she subconsciously placed her fingers against her kiss-swollen lips, remembering the exquisite kiss as she stared absently into space. She was taken by this man and there was nothing she wanted more in the world than to remember exactly the way that kiss had felt for the rest of her life.
Michael opened the door and his brothers walked into the room making it feel very small. “Ready to do this?” Tony grinned at Michael after noticing Emma’s trance-like state.
“You do that to her,” Tony whispered for Michael’s ears only. Michael smiled at his brother and then looked at his Emma.
“Emma, Baby? Are you ready to do this?” Michael asked her in a gentle voice. He knew she was frightened. Hell, he was frightened too.
“Huh, what?” Emma mumbled coming back into her head.
“I said, are you ready?” Michael asked, feeling better than he had ever remembered feeling at the thought that he had such an effect on her.
Truth be told, he remembered every moment they had spent together. He remembered the way her body arched under his when he was driving into her, her soft moans, and her dirty word spoken only for him. He remembered the way she climaxed around his cock. He remembered the way his cock felt sheathed by her mouth. He could feel himself pressing against his jeans. He better stop remembering and get down to business. He grabbed his bags and headed towards the door. The men, plus one beautiful
ly delicate Emma, made their way to the cars. They loaded their gear into the trunks and started their three-hour drive to kidnap Ahmed.
« Chapter Thirteen »
Outside of Pittsburgh, the men stopped to acquire a windowless van. It had been a painter’s van. They cleaned it out leaving all of the painting materials in the man’s driveway. These guys were good at being undetected. Plus, the driveway was on the opposite side of the house, on the other side of the man’s garage. It was easy enough to get into, hotwire, and remove before anyone could become the wiser.
Steve, Tony, and Rob stowed away in the back of the van dressed in civilian combat gear: jeans, boots, and coats with bullet-proof vests underneath. Michael drove with Emma in the passenger seat. The directions Ahmed had sent ordered for Emma to be dropped off at Warehouse P7 in Highland Park. The van rolled along the road as Michael searched for Warehouse P7. They found it in the middle of several abandoned warehouses. The garage door was open waiting for Michael’s delivery.
Michael pulled up to the garage door where a man stopped him, one Michael assumed to be security personnel for Ahmed. With a thick Algerian accent, the man asked, “What you doing here?”
Michael said, “Let me pull a little inside and then I can deliver the package to Ahmed.”
This was apparently good enough for the security as he allowed Michael to pull ten feet into the warehouse. Michael could see Ahmed a good twenty feet away, standing next to a rather unremarkable dark van. He wore a ponytail of straggly hair. His jeans were dirty and rotted, full of holes, and his blue windbreaker jacket with a white running strip down the arms was doing nothing to keep him warm.
If this went down wrong, he would never find Emma. But he couldn’t think like that. Michael took a deep breath to clear his mind. He pulled to a stop, and the security guard’s gun was trained on Michael. The guard peered into the van trying to see behind him. The guard kept glancing back at Emma as if the sight of her made him mad. He would definitely hurt Emma. Michael had to work fast to keep the others’ positions in the van a secret from the guard. Michael reached behind him to pull out his wallet to prove his identity, but instead pulled out his 9mm Beretta with a silencer and shot the unsuspecting security guard. With a clean shot between the eyes, the guard dropped to the ground. Ahmed saw this and started to run.
Closer (The Unit #1) Page 9
